Improvement in joints for folding furniture



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN THOMPSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN JOINTS FOR FOLDING FURNITURE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 121,735, dated December 12, 1871 antedated November 22, 1871.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN THOMPSON, oi the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hinge-Joints for Folding Furniture and Other Articles 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this speciiication, in which- Figures 1 and 2 represent outside face or side views of a hinge-joint constructed in accordance with the improvement, in its open and closed positions. Fig. 3 is an edge View of said joint 5 Fig. 4, a transverse section in direction of the length of the joint; Figs. 5 and 6, inside face views of the halves or portions of the joint detached. Fig. 7 is an edge view, in an endwise direction, ofthe joint when formed with flanges on its legs. Fig. 8 shows the joint as applied to the legs or sides and back or seat portion of a camp-stool or chair 5 Figs. 9 and 10, a side view and transverse section of the joint at the junction of the seat and back of said stool; and Fig. ll, an upper edge View of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing.

This invention consists in a novel construction 0f hinge-joint suitable for folding furniture, including camp-stools or chairs, folding seats or benches for churches, theaters, and schools; likewise applicable to trunks, tents, and other articles. Said joint is formed of two parts or pieces provided with arms or legs for attachmentof them to the bodies or surfaces to which it is designed to applyr the joint, and pivoted together to work one on and within the other by a peculiar doublerecessed or annular step-like construction ofthe one half of the joint at its eye and a corresponding circular iiange and hub-like construction of the other half of the joint, so that when iitted together they may not only be made to present a ilush exterior, but are supported endwise laterally, and strain is removed from the screw, rivet, or pin which constitutes the pivot of the joint. Each half of the joint may be stamped out or struck up from sheet metal, and the legs or arms ofthe halves that provide for the attachment of the joint be shaped or arranged to conform to the article to which it is designed to apply the joint.

Referring, in the first instance, to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the drawing, A and B represent the halves or portions of the joint, having radial or tangential arms a and b projecting from them to provide for their attachment by screws to the bodies or surfaces to which it is designed to apply the joint, and said joint halves or pieces being arranged towork, the one upon and within the other, about a central screw or pivot, c. The one-or, as it may be termed, male-half A is formed of a circular iiange, d, with the securing-arm or arms a projecting from it, and with a hub, e, on its inner side. The other half B is formed with a circular recess,f, below its arm or arms b, of a size and depth corresponding with the iian ge d, to provide for the turning of the latter within it, and said half B being furthermore formed with a second and concentric recess, y, for the hub e of the half jointA to turn in, and the boss or projection h at the back ot' said last-mentioned recess serving to provide for the seating ofthe portion containing the larger recess j' on and in that body or surface such half joint B is applied to, also serving as a bearing for the pivot or screw C to it into. If desired, the securing arms a and b may also be provided with edge-tlanges or clips i i, Fig. 7, to clasp the sides or edges of the parts the joint is fitted to.

Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11 show a hinge-joint ofthe same construction as hereinbefore described, and designed for a camp-stool or chair, to which it is shown applied in Fig. the joint that provides for the opening and closing of the sides or legs C C being identical with that illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the drawing, and the joint that provides for the closing and throwing up of the back, relatively to the seat of the chair, being likewise the same in all essential features; but the iiange cl being only half a circle and the arms c! and b being foreshortened on their own side of the joints center, so that they only act as stops on openin g the folding portions, and the one pair of them beihg shaped to form hooks lc, which, when the chair is set up, hitch onto a cross-bar or stay, m, arranged to connect the upper ends of the rear portions of the one set of legs C C. Thus hooked, the seat is supported on and serves to hold the legs at their stretch.

Folding furniture and other articles iitted with What I rlnilu :is my iure-mimi. :uid dvsir( to smurv by Imttvrs lzltmit. is-

Thv liiuggv-joint nr 'nldiugv 'urnitur(l :md 0thvr urticivs. mustrlu-twl ut' lmlrvs nr purimis A B provided with urlus or prujmtious u l; for uttzwhingztlwm to tlw surfsuws Hu.iniutisdvsigued 'm im applied to, :md arrmigod to work, the one upmi :uid within the other, by menus of tlm oirculzir zmgv 1,tl1u boss e, and the recessesfand g, in cmnbiuation with the pivot c, substantially :is shown :uid described.

NATHAN THOMPSON. 'itlwssus:

FRED HAYNES, R. E. RABEAU. 

